LEGO is sinking further into the moral abyss by partnering with FIFA

LEGO football sets are coming back to shelves in 2026, but through a partnership with FIFA that will only see the LEGO Group sink further into the moral abyss.

The LEGO Group has this week announced a new partnership with FIFA for the 2026 World Cup, and it’s kicking things off with a 2,842-piece life-size version of the trophy that will cost you £160 to add to your own trophy cabinet. The set itself looks like a decent recreation of an ugly object, so it’s a model only a mother could love but perhaps through no inherent fault of its own. The real problem here is the LEGO x FIFA partnership.

Let’s rewind the clock a little. In 2015, the US government charged seven senior FIFA officials with receiving $150 million in bribes over a two-decade period, culminating in payments allegedly taken in connection with the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups (in Russia and Qatar respectively). Since then, the terms ‘FIFA’ and ‘corruption’ have become almost synonymous.

Current FIFA president Gianno Infantino, who replaced the disgraced Sepp Blatter in 2015, promised that the organisation would ‘enter a new era’ under his stewardship following sweeping internal reforms. But in May this year, human rights advocacy group FairSquare coordinated an open letter from a collective of non-governmental organisations, football supporters’ groups, academics and whistleblowers, which claims ‘FIFA is arguably more poorly governed today than it was 10 years ago’.

“This statement demonstrates not only the rank failure of the reforms enacted under the presidency of Gianni Infantino, but also the breadth of expert opposition to and frustration with FIFA’s dysfunctional governance model,” said FairSquare’s co-director Nick McGeehan. The letter points to a lack of transparency in FIFA’s decision making and, in particular, the awarding of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia.

And make no mistake: the problematic nature of the LEGO Group’s partnership with FIFA is not solely due to generations of officials using the sport to line their own pockets. It’s in the human rights abuses that took place in Qatar to construct stadiums for the 2022 World Cup; the human rights abuses that Saudi Arabia continues to perpetrate (Amnesty International has a handy list if you need it); and even FIFA’s dubious climate record. 

Scientists for Global Responsibility projects the 2026 World Cup – which is expanding from 32 to 48 teams and will be played across three countries – will be the ‘most polluting ever’, even more so than the 2030 or 2034 tournaments, while FIFA’s sponsorship deal with Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco ‘could induce an additional 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent alone’. Meanwhile, the LEGO Group devotes an entire section of its annual financial report to its green credentials.

The morals and values of FIFA as an organisation do not seem in line with those of the LEGO Group (or at least those the LEGO Group claims to uphold). “But Chris,” I hear you say, “what about the LEGO x Formula 1 partnership? Don’t a bunch of these companies and countries have stakes in that too?” And that’s a great point, thanks for making it, I totally agree. That’s why FIFA is dragging the LEGO Group further into the abyss.

Perhaps the worst part of this new partnership, though, is that it doesn’t even feel necessary. Back in the early 2000s, the original LEGO Sports theme cooked up a whole range of legendary – and more importantly, playable – sets inspired by the gameplay of Subbuteo without a FIFA logo in sight.

Sure, there were stickered sponsors decorating the advertising boards around the pitches and chances are one or two of those were probably morally dubious, and there were tie-ins with real-world international teams, but the focus of those sets was on the sport itself. These were playable toys that combined the beautiful game with the creativity and ethos of the LEGO brick, without leaning completely on real-world icons and personalities.

The LEGO Group hasn’t yet confirmed any other LEGO Editions sets beyond the life-size World Cup trophy, but as a starting point it very much sets the tone for what’s to come – especially if a new rumoured list of sets is to be believed. These will be display models meant to gather dust on a shelf, and they feel very far away from the LEGO football pitches, team buses, training areas, stands, floodlights and various other paraphernalia of the ‘00s.

I had many happy hours with those sets as a kid and even found them pretty fun as an adult when I revisited them for Blocks magazine a few years ago. What I don’t want is a giant ode to FIFA in my living room, and for me that’s what the World Cup trophy represents. That’s what any LEGO FIFA set is going to represent. The idol worship of rumoured sets involving Messi and Ronaldo – problematic figures in themselves – doesn’t bode much better, either.

The wider approach of LEGO Editions also speaks to a broader concern many LEGO fans have at the moment, which is the LEGO Group chasing new adult consumers at the expense of its own dwindling portfolio of creative in-house themes. Now it’s chasing them at the expense of its own ethics and morals, too.

Where will it draw the line? It’s impossible to say. Maybe it’s instead up to us as fans to draw the line, as many have already done over LEGO Harry Potter, which seems impossible to extricate from J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans views (and the organisations she funds) given she profits from Wizarding World merchandise.

Because come what may from future LEGO Editions sets, there’s going to be no avoiding that FIFA branding. When the LEGO Group revealed its World Cup trophy set earlier this week, it did so by leading with the news of its partnership with FIFA first and the LEGO product second. And it’s not hard to imagine that this set might be present in the Kennedy Center on Friday when Infantino and his ‘close friend’ Donald Trump make the 2026 World Cup draw. Wouldn’t that be the icing on the cake?

Above all else, this partnership is a timely reminder, if we needed it, that the LEGO Group is a business like any other. It’s going to follow the almighty dollar, and few organisations know more about that than FIFA…